2 April 2024
CAPITAL & REGIONAL
PLC ("Capital &
Regional")
Dividend Finalisation
Announcement
Further to the announcement made by
the Company on 8 March 2024, a final dividend of 2.95 pence per
share (the "Dividend") has been declared
and will be paid entirely as a property income distribution
("PID").
The PID will be subject to a deduction of a 20% UK withholding tax
unless exemptions apply. The Group will publish its
preliminary results announcement in the second half of April
2024.
The Dividend is subject to
shareholder approval, to be sought by the Company at the annual
general meeting of shareholders ("AGM") to be held on Thursday, 23 May 2024. Should the Dividend be
approved by shareholders, it will be payable on Friday, 31 May 2024
to shareholders registered on the UK principal register
("UK
Shareholders") and the South African
branch register ("SA
Shareholders"). The Record Date for
both UK Shareholders and SA Shareholders is at the close of
business on Friday, 12 April 2024.
Subject to shareholders approving
the Dividend at the AGM, the Directors are offering a scrip
alternative ("Scrip
Alternative") to the Dividend, further details of which are
contained in the Scrip Dividend Scheme available at
http://capreg.com/investor-info/scrip/
and from the Company's Registrars.
A cash dividend will be paid to
shareholders unless they elect to receive the Scrip
Alternative.
Capitalised terms used in this
announcement will be the same meaning as defined in the Scrip
Dividend Scheme.
(i)
Shareholders receiving the dividend in cash:
SA shareholders are advised that the
exchange rate for the dividend will be 23.95 ZAR to 1.00 GBP
(the "Exchange Rate"),
resulting in a gross local dividend amount of 70.65250
ZAR cents per share. Accordingly,
shareholders who do not elect to receive New Ordinary Shares
pursuant to the Scrip Dividend Scheme will be paid a cash dividend
per share as follows:
PID
|
UK
Shareholders
(GBP pence)
|
SA
Shareholders
(ZAR cents)
|
Gross amount of PID
|
2.95p
|
70.65250 cents
|
Less 20% UK withholding tax
*
|
0.59p
|
14.13050 cents
|
Net PID dividend
payable**
|
2.36p
|
56.52200 cents
|
Less effective 5% SA dividends tax
for SA Shareholders***
|
n/a
|
3.53263 cents
|
Net PID dividend
payable***
|
n/a
|
52.98937 cents
|
*
Certain categories of UK shareholders may apply for exemption, in
which case the PID element will be paid gross of UK withholding
tax.
**
Net position after deducting UK withholding tax for both UK and SA
Shareholders, but before SA shareholders have claimed back 5% from
His Majesty's Revenue & Customs ("HMRC") under the double tax agreement
between the United Kingdom and South Africa in respect of the UK
withholding tax.
*** SA dividends tax applies at the rate of 20% for SA
Shareholders, but SA Shareholders receive a rebate of the UK
withholding taxes suffered (which is effectively 15%, after taking
into account the 5% refund).
(ii) Shareholders who elect to take shares:
The Scrip Calculation Price for UK
shareholders is 48.73 pence, being the average of the middle market
quotations of an Ordinary Share derived from the Daily Official
List of the LSE for the last five dealing days ending on Wednesday,
27 March 2024, less the gross amount of Dividend per share.
The Scrip Calculation Price for SA shareholders is
1,167.08350 ZAR cents, being the Scrip Calculation Price for
UK shareholders, converted to Rand at the Exchange Rate.
The number of New Ordinary Shares to
be allocated to shareholders electing to participate in the Scrip
Dividend Scheme will be calculated by dividing the net value of the
Dividend otherwise receivable by a Shareholder by the Scrip
Calculation Price and rounding down to the nearest whole number. As
no fraction of a new share will be issued, for UK shareholders
any residual Cash Balance, i.e. the total value of the dividend
receivable less the value of the shares allocated, will be rolled forward and factored into the Scrip calculation
for the next relevant Dividend.
For SA
shareholders, any entitlement which results in a fractional
share will be rounded down to the nearest whole number, with a cash
payment to be made to the relevant SA shareholder in respect of the
fraction ("Cash Payment").
Such fractions of shares will be sold in the market on behalf of
the SA shareholders entitled to the fractions of shares and
the Cash Payment in respect of the fractions will be paid to those
SA shareholders. The Cash Payment is calculated by multiplying the
fractional entitlement by the scrip dividend reference price. SA
shareholders are only entitled to the proceeds for their fractional
entitlements, which are sold on their behalf, equal to the amount
of the Cash Payment.
The Cash Payment will be made on the
payment date, being Friday, 31 May 2024.
By way of illustration, a
shareholder who holds 1,000 shares, and who elects to receive New
Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Scrip Dividend Scheme (in respect
of the PID element), will receive a number of New Ordinary Shares
calculated as follows:
PID
|
UK
Shareholders
(£)
|
SA
Shareholders
(ZAR cents)
|
PID dividend net of UK withholding
tax entitled to receive*
(As per (i) above x 1,000):
|
2.36p x
1,000 = £23.60
|
56 522.00000 ZAR cents
|
Scrip Calculation Price
|
£0.48730
|
1 167.08350 ZAR cents
|
Calculated number of new shares to
which shareholder is entitled
|
48.43013
|
48.43013
|
Actual number of new shares
received
|
48
|
48
|
Gross cash residual (multiply fractional entitlement by Scrip
Calculation Price)
|
£0.21
|
501.99763 ZAR cents
|
* A scrip dividend is not subject to SA
dividends tax, therefore no SA dividends tax is deducted for SA
Shareholders in this instance, only UK withholding tax. SA shareholders may
claim back 5% from HMRC under the double tax agreement between the
United Kingdom and South Africa in respect of the UK withholding
tax
TIMETABLE
The key dates in relation to the
payment of the Dividend are:
|
2024
|
Last day to trade (SA
shareholders)
|
Tuesday, 9
April
|
Shares trade ex-dividend on the
JSE
|
Wednesday,
10 April
|
Shares trade ex-dividend on the
LSE
|
Thursday,
11 April
|
Record date for LSE and JSE and last
election for scrip
|
Friday, 12
April
|
Closing date to elect to receive the
Scrip Alternative (JSE and LSE shareholders)
|
Friday, 12
April
|
AGM to be held on
|
Thursday,
23 May
|
Announcement of the total amount of
new shares to be issued (on or about)
|
Friday, 24
May
|
Dispatch of share certificates,
payment of cash dividend and residual cash balances (if
applicable), CREST/CSDP/broker accounts credited/updated and new
shares listed
|
Friday, 31
May
|
Notes:
1. JSE
shareholders will receive a cash dividend in South African Rand,
based on the conversion rate.
2. Share
certificates (in respect of shares held on the South African
register) may not be demateriliased or rematerialised between
Wednesday, 10 April 2024 and Friday, 12 April 2024, both days
inclusive.
3.
Transfers of shares between sub-registers in the United Kingdom and
South Africa may not take place between Thursday, 28 March 2024 and
Friday, 12 April 2024, both days inclusive.
4.
Shareholders should note that new shares should not be traded until
they are issued or reflected in their respective
accounts.
TAX IMPLICATIONS FOR SA
SHAREHOLDERS
Cash PID
A 20% UK withholding tax will be
deducted from cash PIDs. The Company will account to HMRC in
sterling for the total UK withholding tax deducted. Under the
double tax agreement between the UK and South Africa (the
"DTA"), the maximum tax
payable in the UK is 15%. South African resident shareholders are
therefore entitled to claim a 5% rebate from HMRC in terms of the
DTA.
SA dividends tax, at a rate of 20%,
will apply to cash PIDs to the extent that the Company shares are
held on the SA share register, unless the beneficial owner of the
dividend is exempt from dividends tax (e.g. if it is a South
African resident company). SA resident shareholders can,
however, claim a rebate against the SA dividends tax for any
UK withholding tax suffered. Accordingly, 15% of the UK
withholding tax may be claimed as a rebate against the 20% SA
dividends tax.
In summary, 20% will be withheld in
the UK, a further 5% will be withheld in SA (where appropriate),
but South African resident shareholders will be entitled to claim
back 5% from HMRC which will bring the overall total to
20%.
New shares issued pursuant to
the Scrip Alternative consisting of PID element
A 20% UK withholding tax will have
been deducted in calculating the number of new shares issued to
shareholders in terms of the Scrip Dividend Scheme. On application
by a JSE shareholder, a 5% rebate is claimable from HMRC, resulting
in an effective UK withholding tax rate of 15%. As new shares
issued pursuant to the Scrip Alternative should not constitute
dividends or foreign dividends for South African dividends tax
purposes, South African dividends tax does not apply to that part
of any dividend satisfied by the issue of new shares where such new
shares are provided in lieu of the dividend.
UK taxation
The receipt of the cash dividend or
election to receive the Scrip Alternative may have tax implications
for shareholders who are resident in the United Kingdom or other
countries and such shareholders are advised to obtain appropriate
advice from their professional
advisors in this
regard.
For
further information, please contact:
Capital & Regional plc
Lawrence Hutchings
Stuart Wetherly
|
+44 (0)20 7932 8000
|
Deutsche Numis
Ben Stoop
Will Rance
|
+44 (0)20 7260 1000
|
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited
Mark Young
Jonathan Wilkes-Green
|
+44 (0)20 7710 7600
|
FTI
Consulting
Richard
Sunderland
Oliver Parsons
|
capreg@fticonsulting.com
+44 (0)20 3727 1000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
About Capital & Regional plc
Capital & Regional is a UK
focused retail property REIT specialising in shopping centres that
dominate their catchment, serving the non-discretionary and value
orientated needs of the local communities. It has a track record of
delivering value enhancing retail and leisure asset management
opportunities across a portfolio of tailored in-town community
shopping centres.
Using its expert property and asset
management platform Capital & Regional owns and manages
shopping centres in Edinburgh, Hemel Hempstead, Ilford, Maidstone,
Walthamstow and Wood Green.
Capital & Regional is listed on
the main market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and has a
secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
(JSE).
For further information see
www.capreg.com.